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1. F..,o'c0NNoR.

BUFFING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED APR. 27 i918.

1,303,378. Patented May`13,1919.

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To all ,whom it may concern.' t

Be it known that I, JOHN F. OCoNNon, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chi# cago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have'invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buing Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,A forming a prart of this specification.

his invention relates to improvements in bufling mechanism. y

The object of the invention is to provide a high capacity ffriction shock absorbing mechanism having an easy I,Jgraduated action and which is particularly adapted for buffers of passenger car equipment.

In the drawing forming part of this specication, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a passenger car end latf/orm casting showing my improved b ng mechanism associated therewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is a similar view,

taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. l.

In said drawing, 10 denotes the end platform casting of a passenger car and which may be of usual or desired construction, the

same being so formed as to provide a longitudinally extending opening 11 for the usual center buing stem 13. The pocket for the shock absorbing mechanism is formed in the casting in the usual manner and has a front stop wall 16and rear stop wall 17 with ,a suitable supporting cross flange l18 on which is riveted a supporting plate 19. The shock absorbing mechanism proper, hereinafter described, is dropped in from the top inthe usual mannerand the cover or floor plate 20 then put in shown at 21.

The improved shock absorbing mechanism, as shown, includes a casting A having a friction shell and two spring casings formed therein" as hereinafter described, a series of friction shoes B, a wedge or pressure-transmitting member C, main sprin lD-D, reliminary springs F, a front follower Gp and an abutment member H.

The casting A4 is of substantially rectangular cross section throughout the greater portion ofits length and is formed at .its 'forward end with a sprlng caslng desigplace. The bulTer'plate is -Specioaticn er Letters Patent. Patented May 13, 1919, application meanprn a7, 191e.l seria1no.'2s'1,1ov. i l

\.nated 22 and has seated therewithin the abutment member H. At the rear end of the spring casing 22V the casting A has an lntegral transverse partition 23 and to the rear of the latter is a second spring casing 24e within which are mounted the twin-arranged mam springs D--D, as clearly shown 1n F1g..3. As appears from said figure, the springs'D-D are inserted laterally into the casing 1n a manner that will be understood.

To' the rear of the spring casing 24, the cast-I ing A has formed integrally therewith a cyllndrical friction shell 25 within which are mounted the circularly 'arranged series of three friction shoes B and the coperatlng wedge or pressuretransmitting member p e arrangement of friction shoes, wedge, well known and need not be specifically described. l

The member H is provided on its front or outer. side with `twin-arranged circular flanges 29 to form seats for'the rear or inner ends of the two preliminary springs F.-F, ghe forward ends of said springs bearing gain-st the follower G and the latter being spaced from the forward end of the casting A any suitable distance which in actual practice will approximate 3% inches. There will also 'be left approximately a distance of shell 25 and main springs D-D is 2 inches Ibetween, the forward edges of the ianges 29 and the forward ed e of theA cast- In order to obtain the graduated easy acand also to maintain the compactness of the device,- the member H is shown as provided at the front end thereof with laterally extending shoulders or arms 30-30, the same working in suitable openings in the sides of the front casing 22. These lateral extensions 30 engage shoulders or stops 31-31formed in the casting 10 so that the member H is prevented from ,rearward movement. i

In absorbing the buin shocks, inward movement of the main bu er stem13 forces the follower G rearwardly which will compress the preliminary springs F--F until the follower G engages the front end of the casting A. During. this preliminary movement, it is evident that the abutment member H cannot move rearwardly and there is substantially no tendency to move the castlng A for the purpose hereina ter described.

A ing A rearwardly. Consequentlv there will compresse be no `action ofthe frictidn mechanism. When the follower G has moved rearwardly sufficiently to engage the casting A, the latter will be forced rearwardly in unison with the follower G and buffer stem 13. This will .bring thefriction mechanism into active operation 'inasmuch as the wedge C is held a ainst movement b the rear stop wall 17. Simultaneously wit friction mechanism as above described, the preliminar springs F will continue to be (f, due to the fact that the abutment member H remains stationary. From the foregoing, it-is evident that for the first part of the buiing action a straight spring capacity is obtained after which a combined friction and spring capacity is obtained which act in tandem and the limit of the compressive action will occur when the follower Gr has come -into contact with the abutment member I'I, which-will preferably be -simultaneous with the engagement of the rear end of the casting A with the rear Shop wall 17.

With the iconstruction above described, it is evident that I obtain' a graduated easy action with an ultimate high capacity and furthermore, all minor movements of the buffer plate are absorbed by the preliminary A rin F without bringing into play the ctii mechanism which is a feature of 'especial importance in passenger car e uipment since it renders the movements o the buffer plates easy in rounding curves and eliminatesto a considerable extent the 3arring or rattling which frequently occurs in the vestibuleslof passenger cars. The easy compression of the preliminary springs F-F for a short distance. also facilitates the starting of a trainof assenger cars where the engineer is compe ed to take up ,the slack before driving the engine forwardly.

I claim:

1. In a shock absorbing mechanism of the character described, the combination with a member having a friction shell, a spring casing adjacent thereto, and a second spring casing; of friction elements coperable with said shell and including a pressure-transmitting member; Aspring means co-acting with said friction elements and disposed within the first named spring casing; an abutment member within the second named spring casing; a preliminary springwithin the second named spring casing; and means for maintaining said abutment member and pressure-transmitting member in relatively fixed relation during actuation of said mechanism.

2. In a shock absorbing mechanism of the character described, the combination with a member having a friction shell, a spring casing adjacent thereto, and a second spring the. actuation of the casing; of friction elements coperable with said shell and including a pressure-transmitting member; spring means coactin with `said friction elements and dispose within the first named spring casing; an abutment member within the second named spring casing; a preliminary spring within V the second named spring casing; and means for maintaining said abutment member and pressure-transmitting member in relatively fixed relation during actuation of said mechanism, said means'mcluding lateral extensions from said abutment member coperable with iixed stops.

3. In a buiiing mechanism, the combination with a passenger car end platform casting having a rear stop wall; a buffer stem mounted within said casting; a front follower adapted to be actuated by said buffer stem; a friction mechanism includin main resisting springs-a friction shell, riction shoes coperable with the shell, and a pressure-transmitting element, said element being normally in engagement with said sto wall, of a preliminary spring engaging said follower at its front end, an abutment member engaging the rear end of said preliminary spring and disposed forwardly of the friction mechanism, and means for holding Asaid abutment member stationary during wall, of a preliminary spring engaging said follower at its front end, an abutment member engaging the rear end of said preliminary spring and disposed forwardly of the friction mechanism, and means for holding said abutment member stationary during the actuation of the buffer', said friction mechanism being actuated after the pre* liminary sprin has been partly compressed, said means inc uding extensions onsaid second follower and coperable shoulders on said platform casting.

5. In a shock absorbing mechanism of the character described, the combination with a casting having a friction shell at one end,

a sprin casing open at the other end, and I a secon spring casing in communication with the friction shell and separated from the rst named spring casing by a transverse partition; of friction elements coperable with said friction shell and includin a pressure-transmitting member extended beyond the adjacent end of the shell; of

main springs coperable with said friction y elements and disposed Within the spring casing adjacent the shell; an abutment member mounted within the end spring casing of said casting; reliminary spring means mounted within t e end spring casmg and engaging said abutment member, said preliminary spring means extending beyond the adjacent end of the casting. 1( In Witness that I claim the foreping I have hereunto subscribed my name t 's 10th day of April, 1918.

JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

